The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned of widespread heavy rain in the days ahead, which could result in flooding or river flooding that might cause significant disruption in some provinces.
“As tropical air begins to stream southward over Botswana and South Africa, conditions will become progressively cloudy to overcast. During the course of the day, rain will set in over numerous provinces, including North West, the Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and to a lesser extent, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN),” SAWS said.
Heavy rainfall is likely to occur in many parts of the above-mentioned provinces, elevating the risk of flooding as well as river flooding.
“Moreover, as the rain produced by this system is expected to continue unabated into Monday, 11 December, the ground is likely to become saturated, leading to widespread overland runoff into streams and rivers.
“Whilst this phenomenon will ultimately lead to increased dam levels, the risk of river flooding (and associated road closures and general traffic disruption) will remain particularly high. Disaster management practitioners are also advised to maintain a high level of vigilance during this period, should river flooding continue to pose a safety and health risk to the public at large,” SAWS said.
Tropically sourced air is well known to be associated with rainfall of a potentially heavy, widespread nature.
“Currently, numeric weather prediction models suggest that the rainfall in association with this system will start clearing from the west, during the course of Tuesday, 12 December, although areas of heavier rainfall may still linger over KZN, eSwatini and the lowveld regions of Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
“A surface high pressure system is likely to sustain light rainfall over aforementioned provinces on Wednesday, 13 December, as cooler, moist maritime air is introduced to the eastern coastal regions. However, the upper air cut-off low will have moved off the country completely by this time,” SAWS said.